


Sanders Sides React To: In A Heartbeat

by Kerriathechosen1



Series: Sanders Sides Reactions [3]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Because he's Remus, Characters Watching Youtube, Family, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Fluff, I need to write more stories without angst, Inspired by In a Heartbeat (Short Film), M/M, Reaction, Remus makes one singular reference to masturbation, YouTube
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:21:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24377917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kerriathechosen1/pseuds/Kerriathechosen1
Summary: The sides watch and react to the animated short film "In A Heartbeat."
Series: Sanders Sides Reactions [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1735882
Comments: 8
Kudos: 65





	Sanders Sides React To: In A Heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> {Originally, I was supposed to have a movie reaction done first, and this would be uploaded a week or two later, but the movie reaction has been put on hold, so here's this little thing instead. The Hamilton reaction has been taking a lot out of me and will probably continue to for the next month, but there is a lot planned for this series and in the works already -- there's just not enough written yet for me to feel comfortable beginning to post. I can tell you this much, though: the next two additions to this series will be a family-friendly movie, and then the first game in a popular video game series. (Hint: It is not any of the series I have written for.) Following that first game -- or maybe in the middle of it -- there will be some individual character playing stories. The first one will be one of the sides playing the game I said was hinted at in Sanders Sides React To: After Ever After, which will be possibly the most pure and fluffiest story I have ever written. (I don't think anyone can possibly guess what it is from the hint, though -- it's more on the obscure side.) And then all of the sides are going to do their own individual Pokemon Nuzlockes. Because we must combine fluff with suffering.  
> This is what happens when you put me through quarantine! XD  
> Also -- another side note -- I have the Sanders Sides on my Tomodachi Life island, and wow, it's surprising how well the dialogue fits sometimes. Because the game can get boring if you don't allow romance (and the game doesn't allow gay couples, which infuriates me), I made a female look-alike, fem Remy, fem Emile, and fem Thomas (Tammy). Remus and my look-alike are married, and so are Janus/Remy and Virgil/Tammy. Emile and Patton are dating. Poor Logan keeps getting in fights with everyone and losing his friends, and it makes me very sad. Oh, and Roman's all right, though he keeps asking me for new clothes and new looks for his apartment. -_-  
> But anyway, that's my rant. I have so much to do and so little time. Feel free to ask me questions about Tomodachi Life because I refuse to make a story about it. It would be cool to be able to post the pictures somewhere, though, if anyone has any ideas on how or where.}

**Ringling College of Art + Design**

**presents**

“This animated short film has 2 million likes on Youtube and over 42 million views,” Logan noted. He was seated on the couch between Virgil and Janus, with Patton, Roman, and Remus sitting to Janus’s left. He had his laptop resting on his lap with a short video pulled up that was being displayed on the tv. “I’m surprised we haven’t seen it until now.”

“Awww, look at the profile pic!” Patton exclaimed, pointing to the cartoonish heart with huge eyes and a smile. “‘In a Heartbeat’… Sounds adorable!”

Janus nodded slowly. “Yes, this one looks more… _light-hearted_ than videos we’ve watched in the past.”

**A film by**

**Beth David + Esteban Bravo**

**In a Heartbeat**

Patton gasped, his hands coming up to cover his mouth as a gentle piano began to play in the background. The tune was nostalgic and melancholy; it triggered tears in the moral side’s eyes. “This… Oh no, I can already tell I’m going to cry.”

Logan frowned. “You do cry… worryingly easy, Patton.”

“Aww, you worried about little ol’ me?” Patton beamed. “Thanks, Logan!” Logan looked away, feeling an unideal amount of heat surfacing in his cheeks. Remus snorted and leaned his head on Roman’s shoulder. Roman huffed an annoyed sigh but didn’t push him away.

The black screen transitioned to the front of a school building, and the piano suddenly stopped, as the music transitioned into a quicker-paced song with a slight thumping in the background, reminiscent of a quiet heartbeat. The abrupt change in music matched a red-headed boy’s movements as he raced through the gates, turning to gaze behind him in fear. He suddenly jumped behind a bush just as the shadow of a person began heading toward the open gates.

“Is he being bullied?” Virgil wondered aloud, wincing in sympathy.

“I don’t know,” Roman replied thoughtfully, eyebrows furrowed. “Is he actually being chased, or is he hiding for another reason altogether?” Virgil shrugged, knowing there were many possibilities. Regardless of why the boy was running, though, Virgil could physically sense his anxiety. The heartbeat-like sounds in the background didn’t help ease his own.

The angle changed to show the boy hiding behind the bush. Another boy with dark brown hair was walking alone on the path into the building, reading a book in his left hand and holding an apple in his right.

“Hey, it’s Logan!” Roman teased. Logan raised an eyebrow.

The brown-haired boy with the apple didn’t seem to notice the other boy was there, passing right by the hiding spot. The red-headed protagonist inched closer to the edge of the bush and peeked out. Then, he climbed up a tree and observed the other boy from afar.

“Is he —” Roman gasped. “Is he in love?!”

The dark-haired boy began tossing his apple up and down in the air. The main character smiled sheepishly from where he hung on the tree, and the soft piano music from the beginning started up again.

“He _is_ in love!” Patton cried, latching onto Roman’s arm. “Awww, this is too precious!” Janus, on the other hand, frowned. He had a sinking feeling this was not going to end well.

Then the main character bumped his head on the tree, making a loud sound. He hid just in time to avoid being seen by the dark-haired boy as he turned around. The redhead’s heart was shown to be pulsating out of his chest, in a way that had Virgil squeeze his eyes shut and cover his ears. Remus grinned; he almost always enjoyed seeing the others unnerved by something.

Eventually, the boy on the ground kept walking, and the main character forced his heart to be still. But then, his heart suddenly broke free and flew a few feet away.

“It’s the heart from the profile picture!” Patton pointed enthusiastically. Sure enough, the heart had enormous eyes and a bright smile as it watched the boy from afar. It giggled and started pointing its owner toward the boy down below with one of its two thin hands, eventually grabbing its owner’s finger and trying to pull him toward the other boy. The main character struggled against it, but it was no use.

“Sometimes the heart is too much to handle,” Logan mumbled. Patton pouted in his direction, looking like he wanted to say something, but couldn’t think of what. Roman put his arm around him and drew him in for a side-hug, and he turned his attention back to the screen.

Instead of letting itself get pulled back, the boy’s heart flung itself forward and the main character fell backward. The apple was tossed up in the air, but what came down into the boy’s hand was the main character’s heart. The dark-haired boy tossed it up and down while the heart made a giddy face at him. As soon as the heart’s owner realized what had happened, he fell out of the tree.

Virgil winced. “Ooh, that’s gotta hurt.”

“Everything hurts a lot more when emotions get involved,” Patton replied without thinking. Logan paused the video and all of the sides slowly turned to Patton, as his words caught up with him. He suddenly looked like a deer caught in headlights. “Oh! Oh, I— I mean—”

“Patton, are you okay?” Roman asked, gently patting him on the back.

“Of course!” Patton beamed back at him, but the concern in Roman’s eyes didn’t fade. “I’m fine, Roman — I promise.” He smiled wider, reassuringly.

Roman still looked skeptical. “ _Okaaaaaaay…_ ” He exchanged glances with the other sides, and then Logan decided to continue the video. They’d have a chat about this later.

The main character rushed over to the other boy from behind, hesitating to make a move. But then the boy’s mouth opened as he leaned toward the heart, as if he were about to eat it.

“Do it! Do it!” Remus chanted eagerly, his fists pumping up and down in the air, his one arm in front of his twin’s face. Roman pushed him aside, but like a punching bag, Remus just came right back.  
“Why does the heart look so happy?” Janus questioned, shifting so his left leg was crossed over the right. Just then, the heart made a kissy face, and he flinched back. “Never mind.”

The main character tried to grab at the heart, but he ended up grabbing the boy’s hand instead.

“Oooooooh! Contact initiated!” Roman whooped. “I ship it so hard.”

“The other boy looks so confused,” Janus murmured with a sly grin.

The red-headed boy pulled away immediately, grinning nervously as the dark-haired boy gazed confusedly at him. Then the heart popped out of his still-open book, and the main character rushed around the boy, chasing the heart as it flew in circles. By the time he finally grabbed the heart, the boys were in a compromising position, their faces mere inches apart, one leaning into the other.

“Adorable. Absolutely adorable.” Patton and Roman were now squeezing one another whenever something precious happened on the screen.

Virgil rolled his eyes at the two of them. “Good grief.”  
Their moment didn’t last long; the sound of footsteps approaching brought the main character back to reality and he did the only sensible thing — he jumped into the trash can.

“Very attractive,” Janus drawled, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Remus nodded. “You know, I thought this was a little too mushy at first, but now I’m starting to feel a kinship with this guy.”

The dark-haired boy just stood there in that same position for a moment, processing what had just happened. He stood straight as a fellow student walked past, raising a hand in greeting, but his attention was clearly on the boy in the trash can. He stepped toward it hesitantly, but then the school bell rang, and, though conflicted, he turned back to his book and walked to the building.

“He’s interested!” Roman shouted fiercely, slamming his feet against the floor and his fists against the couch. “Did you see that? He’s interested!” Janus didn’t look convinced.

“Roman, are— are _you_ okay?” Patton stammered.

“I’m just very, _very_ invested right now, Patton,” came the answer. Roman’s eyes didn’t leave the screen, carefully dissecting every frame of animation. “I happen to empathize with our young flaming-haired prince.”   
“He’s just a guy, not a prince,” Virgil argued, rolling his eyes. “And, Princey, you wear your heart on your sleeve. You’d go blindly chasing after someone rather than be so scared you’d rather hide in a tree.” Roman smiled sadly. _‘Oh, if only you knew…’_

The heart popped open the trash can’s lid seconds before its owner did. It continued trying to pull him toward the other boy, with enough force to drag him out of the can and forward with increasing velocity, even though his feet were skidding against the ground.

Just before they reached the boy, he managed to steer them to the right. The heart sped them far off in that direction before turning them back to speed toward their crush. The main character closed his eyes and braced for impact, when a small pebble on the ground caused him to slip, swinging him high in the air over the other boy’s head. The heart reached out and managed to just barely brush the top of the boy’s hair before zooming overhead. The red-headed boy fell to the ground and shook himself off. He realized the heart was not in his hands and looked up to see his heart had slipped into the door of the school behind his crush.

“Yes! Go after him!” Roman cheered.

“Roman, that’s the last thing he wants to do right now,” Virgil mumbled.

Frantic, the red-headed boy scampered up the stairs and threw the door open to find his worst fears realized. The boy he liked was lying on the floor with students surrounding him in a circle, watching as the heart nuzzled against his cheek. The main character rushed forward and grabbed his heart by its hand, pulling it back. The heart struggled back and grabbed the crush by the finger, and held the two boys together with its eyes squeezed shut in determination.

The rampant music died down as the dark-haired boy stared at him in realization. The red-headed boy didn’t meet his eyes, embarrassed. The other students stepped closer, observing with judgmental eyes, as a sad string instrument reflected the loneliness and isolation they felt.

Logan paused the video. “This animation is very effective at showing exactly why those who are not heterosexual struggle not only to accept but also to display their true feelings toward others. The reactions of those around them, unfortunately, are or have been very common in the past. It’s a very realistic take on the troubles that people have today, and would be an excellent moral teaching tool. Wouldn’t you agree, Patton?”

Patton was too busy tearing up to respond. Remus poked him in the cheek and he giggled. “Wait, what? Did you say something, Logi?”

Logan sighed. “Never mind.” He continued the video.

The heart frowned, and as the main boy tugged the heart away, a crack formed through its center.

“No!” Patton cried.

The red-headed boy looked down at the heart sorrowfully, and then up at his crush, who was looking around at all of the bystanders. His eyes met the main character’s, and then they fell back to the ground.

Virgil winced. “Oof.” Public embarrassment was one of his worst fears. He really related to the main character’s anxiety over the whole ordeal. This film was really tugging at his heartstrings.

The red-headed boy pulled away again, and the heart continued to tear. Remus was smiling, appreciative of the angst and the pang it made him feel in his chest.

Eventually, it broke in two lifeless halves, and as soon as it did, he was running out the door with his half, while his crush remained on the floor clutching the second half. The boy looked up out the front door just before it closed shut.

Janus sighed. “As part of Thomas’s self-preservation, I can relate to the need to… conceal one’s feelings, the way he so desperately tried. Often it seems the safest option.” Virgil couldn’t help but agree.

Roman frowned at him. “Doesn’t that hurt?” Logan paused the video, sensing the need for a brief conversation.

“... Yes,” he admitted, hesitantly. “But look at how much worse it hurts to be rejected. His heart literally becomes broken. That’s not a feeling I would ever subject myse— er, Thomas — to.”

Patton slowly reached out, gently placing a hand over Janus’s. Janus flinched, but skeptically looked up to meet Patton’s warm, glistening eyes. “You weren’t rejected by us.”

Janus quickly looked away, stammering out an excuse. “That’s not— I’m not—”

“You’re smiling,” Virgil teased.

“No, I’m not!” Janus snapped, trying to ignore the mushiness of the situation, but it was a weak lie. Patton cooed and scooped him up into a hug. “Patton, let go, I _swear—_ ”

“No swearing in this household!” Patton retorted. Janus sighed, exasperated, and gently pushed Patton away.

“All right, Patton, I understand. Let’s continue the video, shall we?” Patton frowned but nodded.

The camera panned out behind one of the trees, and the sad piano melody from the beginning began to play again. The main boy was sitting against the tree, dejectedly, staring down at his broken heart in his hands. When he leaned his head back to hit the tree, however, his crush became visible standing on the other side of a bush.

“He’s there!” Roman shouted, pointing at the screen. The others watched in amusement at his over-the-top reaction.

The red-headed boy looked about ready to cry when the dark-haired boy walked a few steps closer. The main character tilted his head just enough to see who it was, and then he turned his back on him, drying his eyes on his shirt while the other approached. He clutched his heart in his hands protectively. When the other boy reached out for it, he flinched away. His crush paused, giving him a gentle look that clearly asked, _‘Do you trust me?’_

“Give it to him,” Patton whispered, squeezing Roman even harder.

With shaking hands, the redhead slowly revealed his half. His crush calmly fit his half of the heart into his, then squeezing his hands together until life was restored to the little heart. Eyes popped back onto its shocked face. The heart flew up into the air, grinning at him, and as his crush leaned back against the tree beside him, the heart grinned even wider.

“He’s alive!” Patton cried.

“All’s well that ends well,” Roman agreed, with a dramatic flair to his voice.

The two boys on the screen smiled at one another — the main character shyly, the other softly. Suddenly, a heart appeared over the dark-haired boy’s chest, and the two hearts both started to glow pink as the rest of the screen grew dark. Then the two hearts flew together and combined into one beating heart in the center of the screen.

After that, the screen faded to black and the credits appeared, after which it was over.

Patton dried his eyes with his sleeve. “That was an emotional rollercoaster.”

“It was quite a masterful animation,” Logan agreed. “It was very well-executed for a short film with no dialogue. Of course, such a concept is not new, as Pixar has become rather famous for its short films, but it’s still impressive regardless, how much can be communicated without speech.”

“Eh, as I said earlier, not really my cup of tea.” Remus shrugged. “Too happy of an ending. Life’s not like that.”

“You’re such a buzzkill,” Roman groaned, nudging him in the side. “It was absolutely stunning! A beautiful romance with a happy ending — what more could you ask for?”

“A part two!” Patton exclaimed. Roman gasped and turned to him, spurting out ideas for a sequel in rapid-fire succession. Remus groaned in boredom.

“All right, I’m bored — time to go steal Jay-Jay’s cape and use it for masturbation. Byeeeeeee!” He sunk out, snickering at the frustrated look on Janus’s face.

“Oh, no you don’t!” he shouted, sinking out seconds later.

Logan’s expression went blank. He’d heard more than he’d needed to hear. “I’m done. Good night.” He stood up and walked out of the room without another word.

That left Virgil alone on his side of the couch, listening to Roman and Patton’s excited conversation. He huffed and snapped his phone and headphones in existence, deciding to play some Geometry Dash to keep his progress far above Roman’s. He refused to inflate the creative side’s ego anymore by allowing himself to be surpassed.

But even as he played, his mind kept drifting back to the short film. He thought about the boy who unintentionally broke and then purposefully restored the main character’s heart. Something lifted in his chest the more he thought about them smiling awkwardly at the end, their hearts becoming one.

Perhaps — just maybe — it wouldn’t be so bad to break down a wall or two of his. Maybe it would lead to a better ending than he expected.


End file.
